DJ LeMahieu Back In The Yankees Lineup

New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu is back in the lineup and leading off after missing Thursday’s game. The Yankees wanted LeMahieu to get more live at-bats in before rejoining the lineup after the 32-year-old missed time due to a positive coronavirus test. LeMahieu took batting practice against Jordan Montgomery on the team’s off-day […]

Champ or Chump: Nate Pearson

The MLB season is finally underway, and a lot of what fantasy owners "knew" before the first pitch has already fallen apart. Juan Soto has tested positive for COVID-19, leaving both the Nationals and a lot of fantasy rosters without a superstar talent for the foreseeable future. Clayton Kershaw was scratched from his Opening Day […]

Prospects To Cut Loose In Dynasty Leagues

The dynasty format requires an owner to consider both the immediate and future implications of draft picks, trades, and waiver wire moves. Viewing roster decisions through two lenses, both present and long-term future makes fantasy baseball much more strategic and, unfortunately, much less forgiving. Any wrong move lives with you for years and makes you […]

2020 MLB Futures - Betting Picks and Sleepers

Major League Baseball’s revised 60-game season starts Thursday, so here are some last-minute 2020 MLB sleeper bets you can make on DraftKings Sportsbook, if your state permits. (I targeted picks with odds of +2000 or longer, as categories such as “[Team] will make playoffs” don’t allow for many drastically profitable options.) World Series | Make […]

Ariel Cohen's 2020 MLB Awards Predictions

Baseball is back! Opening day is finally upon us. We can now finally log in to our fantasy leagues and observe as the statistics start to accumulate. What a great feeling! We had to wait a few months longer this year due to the tragic global pandemic of COVID-19, but we are finally here. I […]

Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the July 24th edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox. Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics […]

Week 1 Bullpen Usage Report for Fantasy Baseball

One of the biggest questions in baseball this season will be how managers approach bullpen usage. That was already arguably the manager's heaviest workload in a normal season, apart from immeasurable impacts on team mood and cohesion. However, this year the bullpen will be in even clearer focus. Every blown save counts 2.7 times more […]

Giancarlo Stanton Opens The Season With A Home Run

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton homered in his first at-bat against Max Scherzer as part of a 2-for-3 night with three RBI on Thursday. Any concerns about Stanton's calf bothering him we're quickly alleviated, though he did DH and is unlikely to play defense for most of this season. Fantasy owners should expect Stanton […]

Gerrit Cole Looks Good In First Start Of The Season

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole cruised through five innings against the Nationals on Thursday, allowing just one run and two baserunners on 75 pitches. Cole would likely have pitched closer to 100 pitches as long as he continued to pitch well, but a rain delay ended his start prematurely. Cole’s fastball sat around […]

FanDuel MLB DFS Lineup Picks (7/23/20): Daily Fantasy Baseball Advice

It has been a long time coming, but finally, the 2020 MLB regular season is set to kick-off. With that comes an abbreviated two-game opening slate just a few hours before "Opening Day" proper commences Friday. For DFS players, that means a short slate ripe with potential. For those owners who have sat on the […]

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (7/23/20) - MLB DFS Lineups

WE ARE BACK! These are words that baseball fans have been waiting to hear for quite some time. For the opening night schedule we will have two games to get things started. The defending World Series champs will face the Yankees starting at 7:08 PM EST, followed by the Giants and the Dodgers. Be sure […]

MLB Betting Picks (7/23/2020) - Moneylines, Totals, and Runlines

The time has finally come! After weeks (and months) of thinking we'd never see Major League Baseball's Opening Day in 2020, July 23rd comes along to save the day. Man, what a weird season this is going to be though. I'm sure I don't need to run the circumstances by you, but if you need […]

MLB DFS Prop Picks for Thursday, July 23rd - Monkey Knife Fight

We have finally reached the start of the 2020 MLB Season! Just sit and let that sink in for a moment, folks. After four long months of waiting, we can finally start setting our lineups and get into the groove of fantasy baseball. Of course, along with the start of the 2020 season, comes the […]

DJ LeMahieu Could Start On Saturday

New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu could start at second base for Saturday’s game against the Nationals, according to manager Aaron Boone. LeMahieu is available off of the bench on Thursday, but the Yankees want the 32-year-old to get more live at-bats in before rejoining the lineup after he missed time with a positive […]

Tyler Wade Starting At Second Base Over DJ LeMahieu

New York Yankees infielder Tyler Wade is starting at second base for the team over DJ LeMahieu on Thursday. LeMahieu is still getting back into game shape after a relatively brief coronavirus-related absence, but the 32-year-old is likely to return to the Yankee lineup within the next week. Until LeMahieu returns, Wade will start at […]

MLB Streamers for Thursday, July 23rd

Welcome to the 2020 MLB Season! While the delay has now been well over four months, it is finally time to start the season and we here at RotoBaller could not be more excited! The season will be a sprint to the finish as the teams will be playing 60 games across 66 days and […]

Roto Category Deflations for Hitters in 2020

Things are going to happen fast in 2020. You’ll want to click that add button on hitters who are in the midst of hot streaks quicker than most seasons as a 10-day hot streak this year makes up for over 15% of the full MLB season - as opposed to just 6% in a full […]

RotoBaller Experts League No. 2 Draft Recap

Here at RotoBaller, there is no such thing as being in too many fantasy baseball leagues. Some of the writers here are lucky enough to participate in The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational, which pits writers, analysts, and experts from all across the baseball community against each other. One RotoBaller writer even started a relievers-only bullpen […]

Updated Points League Rankings Risers and Fallers (July)

Is it feasible to do a weekly H2H league in 2020? Sure. Is it a great idea? Not really. With just under 10 weeks of actual baseball, the whole "sprint" metaphor will become real in a hurry. Total points leagues aren't as popular but make a lot more sense over the course of a 60-game season. […]

Sauceda's Slants: Finding POWA in the Infield

We recently introduced our new hitter metric, POWA (which stands for Prediction of wOBA Attempt), to more appropriately align and weight new Statcast metrics to better predict future performance. You can read the introductory piece for the full details and a 2019 POWA leaderboard, but the gist of it is: POWA is nearly 10% more […]

Aroldis Chapman Still Testing Positive For Coronavirus

New York Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman is still testing positive for coronavirus as of Wednesday. Chapman is now mostly symptom-free according to manager Aaron Boone, but Chapman is ineligible to rejoin the team until he tests negative twice over a 24-hour period. Given that Chapman will likely need time to get back into game […]

Gerrit Cole Could Throw 100 Pitches On Thursday

New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole may through 90 to 100 pitches against the Nationals on Thursday, according to manager Aaron Boone. The Yankees don’t appear to want to get too creative or cautious with their star pitcher, and for good reason. Fresh off of a season with a sparkling 2.50 ERA and 34% […]

DJ LeMahieu Uncertain For Opening Day

New York Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu may not play on Thursday as he continues to get back into game shape after isolating with coronavirus. LeMahieu rejoined the Yankees last Friday after testing negative for coronavirus twice over a 24-hour period, but manager Aaron Boone doesn’t want to rush the 32-year-old back into games. Even […]

Jordan Montgomery To Start On July 29

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery is in line to start on July 29 against the Phillies, according to manager Aaron Boone. Montgomery was optioned to the team’s alternate site on Tuesday as a means to add relievers for a bullpen game on July 26, but the 27-year-old will be the team’s fifth starter […]

Closer Conundrum: What Does Managing Like It's The Playoffs Mean?

"In a 60-game season, managers will approach every game like it's the playoffs." We've heard that refrain over and over again as we prepare for the 2020 fantasy baseball season. In fact, I think I've written that sentence, or something similar, close to ten times already. But that statement brings up a natural follow-up question: How […]

Sauceda's Slants: More POWA to your Outfield

We recently introduced our new hitter metric, POWA (which stands for Prediction of wOBA Attempt), to more appropriately align and weight new Statcast metrics to better predict future performance. You can read the introductory piece for the full details and a 2019 POWA leaderboard, but the gist of it is: POWA is nearly 10% more […]

Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt Don't Make Opening Day Roster

New York Yankees pitching prospects Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt will start the season at the team's alternate training site. Manager Aaron Boone said the team thinks the 21-year-old Garcia needs more seasoning after his rough exhibition start on Monday against the Phillies. Schmidt's absence on the 40-man roster hurt his case for breaking camp […]

Michael King A Candidate To Open Third Game

New York Yankees starting pitcher Michael King earned a spot on the Opening Day roster as one of the standouts of summer camp, and the 25-year-old is a candidate to open the third game of the season against the Nationals, along with Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga. King is the team's No. 25 prospect, per […]

Yankees Option Jordan Montgomery

New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery was optioned to the team’s alternate training site on Tuesday. This was likely a short-term move to open up spots for relievers early in the season, as manager Aaron Boone announced that the team will have a bullpen day on July 26 to fill in for the recovering […]

Masahiro Tanaka On Pace For July 31 Start

New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (head) threw 20 pitches from the mound on Tuesday. Barring any setbacks, Tanaka is scheduled to throw around 40 pitches on Sunday, putting him in line to start on July 31 against the Red Sox. Tanaka is slated to miss one start with that timeline, giving the Yankees […]